Historical Events
The Thrilla in Manila
Oct 1 "The Thrilla in Manila"; Muhammad Ali stops Joe Frazier in 14 rounds in Quezon City, the Philippines to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight title
- Oct 1 Britain grants internal self-government to Seychelles
- Oct 1 Ellice Islands split from Gilbert Islands, take name "Tuvalu"
- Oct 1 Reunion Island stops printing stamps, France takes over production
- Oct 2 Four Ulster Volunteer Force members killed after a bomb they are carrying prematurely explodes in Farrenlester, near Coleraine
- Oct 2 The Ulster Volunteer Force kill 7 civilians in a series of attacks across Northern Ireland; 6 were Catholic civilians and 1 was a Protestant civilian
Extra Texture
Oct 3 Apple Records releases George Harrison's sixth studio album, "Extra Texture" in UK
- Oct 3 Ireland AKZO director Tiede Herrema kidnap
F1 World Champion
Oct 5 Austrian Niki Lauda wins the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen to claim his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship; wins by 19.5 points from Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil
- Oct 5 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Oct 7 MLB American League Championship: Boston Red Sox beat Oakland Athletics, 3 games to 0
- Oct 7 MLB National League Championship: Cincinnati Reds beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 games to 0
- Oct 7 Players' Association files a suit on behalf of Dodgers' Andy Messersmith
Music History
Oct 7 US decides John Lennon won't be deported due to UK pot conviction
- Oct 8 San Antonio Spurs, then members of the ABA, defeat the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, 109-107 in the first basketball game ever played in the Louisiana Superdome
Nobel Peace Prize
Oct 9 Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov wins Nobel Peace Prize
Lisztomania
Oct 10 Ken Russell's surreal biographical musical comedy film "Lisztomania", starring Roger Daltrey as 19th-century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, and soundtrack arranged by progressive rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman, premieres
Saturday Night Live
Oct 11 "Saturday Night Live" created by Lorne Michaels premieres on NBC with George Carlin as host
NHL Record
Oct 11 Islander's Bryan Trottier's 1st career hat trick
- Oct 12 American Jacqueline Hansen runs women's world record marathon 2:38:19 in the Nike OTC Marathon, Eugene, Oregon
- Oct 12 Archbishop Oliver Plunkett became 1st Irish-born saint in 7 centuries
- Oct 12 NASA launches space vehicle S-195
Country Music Association Awards
Oct 13 9th Country Music Association Awards: John Denver wins
Music History
Oct 13 Rock vocalist Neil Young undergoes throat surgery
Event of Interest
Oct 14 US President Gerald Ford escapes injury when his limousine is struck broadside
- Oct 15 Iceland moves intl boundary from 50 to 200 miles
- Oct 16 Louis LaRusso II's stage drama "Lampost Reunion", starring Danny Aiello, opens at the Little Theatre, NYC: runs for 77 performances
- Oct 17 1st Space Shuttle main engine test at National Space Tech Labs, Miss
- Oct 17 UN passes resolution saying "Zionism is a form of racism"
- Oct 18 Simon & Garfunkel reunite on "Saturday Night Live", sing "My Little Town"
- Oct 18 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Oct 19 Cleveland Browns' Don Cockroft kicks club record 5 field goals
- Oct 20 Soviet orbiter Venera 9 becomes the 1st spacecraft to orbit Venus
- Oct 20 Supreme Court rules teachers could spank their pupils after warning
- Oct 21 "Treemonisha" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 64 performances
- Oct 21 Coast Guard Academy 1st allows women to enroll
Music History
Oct 21 Elton John is given a star in Hollywood
- Oct 21 Mexico City's 1st major subway accident takes 26 lives
- Oct 21 Red Sox Carlton Fisk's 12th inning HR beats Reds 7-6 in game 6 of WS
- Oct 21 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Oct 22 "Me & Bessie" opens at Ambassador Theater. NYC; runs for 453 performances
World Series
Oct 22 Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds beat Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park for 4 games to 3 series win; MVP: Reds switch hitter Pete Rose
- Oct 22 Soviet spacecraft Venera 9 soft-lands on Venus, becoming the first lander to return images from the surface of another planet
- Oct 22 Turkish diplomat shot to death in Vienna
- Oct 22 World Football League disbands after the Week 12 of their second season
- Oct 23 Battle between Cuba & South Africa troops in Angola
- Oct 23 Islander Glenn Resch's 5th shut-out opponent-Flyers 3-0
- Oct 23 Women take the day off in Iceland to commemorate “International Women’s Year”, shutting the country down for a day
- Oct 24 Turkish diplomat shot dead in Paris
Still Crazy After All These Years
Oct 25 Columbia Records releases "Still Crazy After All These Years", the fourth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon; it features the title track and the hits "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "My Little Town", and wins 2 Grammy Awards
- Oct 25 Denver Nuggets 1st game at McNichols Sports Arena beat St Louis Spirits
- Oct 25 USSR's Venera 10 makes day-side Venus landing
Event of Interest
Oct 26 Anwar Sadat becomes the 1st Egyptian president to officially visit the United States
- Oct 26 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- Oct 26 Cuba beats Mexico for its 4th Pan Am Games Gold Medal in baseball
Music History
Oct 27 Covers of both Time (“Rock’s New Sensation”) and Newsweek (“Making of a Rock Star”) magazines feature rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen
- Oct 28 Calvin Murphy (Houston) begins NBA free throw streak of 58 games
- Oct 28 Cleveland Metroparks assume operating responsibilities for Zoo (Cleveland, Ohio)
- Oct 28 Venezuela and foreign oil companies agree on nationalization as of January 1, 1976
Event of Interest
Oct 29 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe kills his first victim, Wilma McCann
- Oct 29 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Oct 30 Giants pitcher John "the Count of" Montefusco wins NL Rookie of Year
- Oct 30 John Bucyk, Boston, became 7th NHLer to score 500 goals
- Oct 30 King Juan Carlos assumes power in Spain
- Oct 30 NY Daily News runs headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead"
Music History
Oct 31 Irish singer-songwriter Bob Geldof's first appearance with The Boomtown Rats
Famous Birthdays
- Oct 1 Chulpan Khamatova, Russian actress
- Oct 1 Eric Morel, Puerto Rican boxer, (WBA flyweight champion 2000-03), born in San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Oct 1 Kim Suna, Korean actress
- Oct 3 India Arie [Simpson], American Grammy Award-winning neo-soul singer ("I Am Light"; Voyage to India), born in Denver, Colorado
- Oct 3 Talib Kweli [Greene], American rapper, born in Brooklyn, New York
- Oct 4 Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian soccer striker and manager (6 caps; AS Liverno), born in Livorno, Italy
- Oct 5 Bobo Baldé, Guinean footballer, born in Marseille, France
Kate Winslet (48 years old)
Oct 5 British actress (Titanic, Revolutionary Road), born in Reading, Berkshire, England
- Oct 5 Parminder Nagra, English actress, born in Leicester, United Kingdom
- Oct 5 Scott E Weinger, American actor (Steve Taylor-Family Man, Full House), born in New York City
- Oct 6 Jan Harm Schippers, Dutch soccer player (SC Heerenveen, Veendam)
- Oct 6 Reon King, West Indian cricketer from Guyana
- Oct 7 Damian Kulash, American musician (OK Go), born in Washington, D.C.
- Oct 7 Terry Gerin, American professional wrestler, born in Detroit, Michigan
- Oct 7 Tim Minchin, Australian comedian and musician, born in Northampton, United Kingdom
- Oct 9 Mahendra Nagamootoo, West Indian cricketer (Guyanese leg-spinner), born in Whim, Berbice, Guyana
- Oct 9 Mark Viduka, Australian soccer striker (Olyroos, Olympics 1996), born in Melbourne, Australia
- Oct 9 Sean Ono Lennon, British-American rock musician and producer (Cibo Matto; The Claypool-Lennon Delirium), born in New York City
- Oct 10 Ramón Morales, Mexican soccer left-wing (64 caps; Guadalajara 382 games), born in La Piedad, Mexico
- Oct 12 Lex Lang, American actor (Power Rangers), born in Hollywood, California
Marion Jones (48 years old)
Oct 12 American track and field athlete and drug cheat (5 forfeited Olympic medals), born in Los Angeles, California
- Oct 13 Leo Koswal, Dutch soccer player (Dordrecht '90), born in Breda, Netherlands
- Oct 14 Floyd Landis, American cyclist (Tour de France, 2006 - finished 1st, later disqualified), born in Farmersville, Pennsylvania
- Oct 14 Teresa "Shaznay" Lewis, British singer (All Saints), born in Islington, London
- Oct 15 Ginuwine [Elgin Baylor Lumpkin], American singer (Ginuwine...The Bachelor), born in Washington, D.C.
- Oct 15 Glen Little, English footballer, born in London, England
- Oct 16 Brynjar Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
- Oct 16 Jacques Kallis, South African cricket all-rounder, captain (166 Tests, 13,289 runs @ 55.37, 45x100, HS 224, 292 wickets; Western Province, Middlesex CCC, Glamorgan CCC, Kolkata Knight Riders), born in Cape Town, South Africa
- Oct 16 Jamila Wideman, WNBA guard (LA Sparks)
- Oct 16 Kellie Martin, Riverside CA, actress (Life Goes On, Cristy)
- Oct 17 Francis Bouillon, American hockey player
- Oct 18 Alex Cora, Puerto Rican MLB baseball infielder, 1998-2011 (Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and 4 other teams), and manager, 2018-19 & 2021- (Boston Red Sox), born in Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Oct 21 Henrique Hilário, Portuguese footballer
- Oct 21 Toby Hall, American baseball player
- Oct 22 Míchel Salgado, Spanish soccer defender (53 caps; Celta Vigo, Real Madrid 251 games, Blackburn Rovers), born in As Neves, Spain
- Oct 23 Jessicka [Jessica Fodera], American goth-rock, alt-pop singer-songwriter and artist, born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Oct 23 Keith Van Horn, American NBA forward, 1997-2006 (New Jersey Nets, and 4 other teams), born in Fullerton, California
- Oct 23 Odalys García, Cuban actress (Lente Loco), born in Havana, Cuba
- Oct 24 Corey Dillon, American football running back (Cincinnati Bengals), born in Seattle, Washington
- Oct 24 Juan Pablo Ángel, Colombian footballer, born in Medellín, Colombia
- Oct 25 Eirik Glambek Bøe, Norwegian musician (Kings of Convenience), born in Bergen, Norway
- Oct 25 Ryan Clement, American football quarterback, born in Denver, Colorado
- Oct 25 Zadie Smith, British novelist (White Teeth; On Beauty; Swing Time), born in Brent, London, England
- Oct 26 Katja Riipi, Finnish ice hockey left wing (Olympics bronze 1998), born in Sodankylä, Finland
- Oct 26 Tammy Cleland, American synchronized swimmer (Olympic gold 1996), born in Sanford, Florida
- Oct 27 Aron Ralston, American mountaineer and motivational speaker (survived canyoning accident by cutting off arm), born in Marion, Ohio
- Oct 27 Igor Lumpert, Slovene jazz-fusion saxophonist (The Sidewinders), born in Novo Mesto, Yugoslavia
- Oct 29 Kelly Lin, Chinese actress (Reign of Assassins), born in China
- Oct 30 Ian D'Sa, British-Canadian guitarist and vocalist (Billy Talent), born in Ealing, London
- Oct 30 Joanne Malar, Canadian swimmer (Olympics-11-92, 96), born in Hamilton, Ontario
- Oct 30 Maria Thayer, American actress (Accepted; Strangers With Candy), born in Portland, Oregon
- Oct 31 Carla Boyd, Australian basketball player (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Wynyard, Tasmania
- Oct 31 Fabio Celestini, Swiss footballer, born in Lausanne, Switzerland
Famous Weddings
Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor
Oct 10 English-American actress Elizabeth Taylor (43) 6th marriage and remarriage to Welsh actor Richard Burton (49) - 1-1/2 years after their first divorce; redivorce in 1976
Hillary & Bill Clinton
Oct 11 Future US President Bill Clinton (29) weds future US Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham (28) in a Methodist ceremony in their living room in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Maurice Gibb
Oct 17 Bee Gees Maurice Gibb weds Yvonne Spencely
Lionel Richie
Oct 18 American pop singer Lionel Richie (26) weds college sweetheart Brenda Harvey; divorce in 1993
Famous Deaths
- Oct 1 Al Jackson Jr., American session drummer, known as "The Human Time Keeper" (Stax; Booker T. & MGs - "McLemore Avenue"), murdered by an intruder in his home at 39 [1]
- Oct 1 Larry MacPhail, American Baseball Hall of Fame executive (Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees), dies at 85
- Oct 2 Kumaraswami Kamaraj, Indian political leader, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (b. 1903)
- Oct 2 Wade Crosby, American actor (Sign of Wolf, Tales of Robin Hood), dies at 70
Guy Mollet (1905-1975)
Oct 3 French politician, Prime Minister of France (1956-57), dies of a heart attack at 69
- Oct 4 Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist (co-founder and majority owner of MLB's New York Mets), dies at 72
- Oct 4 May Sutton, American tennis player (first American woman to win Wimbledon singles title 1905), dies at 89
- Oct 6 Henry Calvin, actor (Sgt Garcia-Zorro), dies at 57
- Oct 8 Alberto Hemsi, Turkish born composer and collector of Sephardic Jews music, dies at 78
- Oct 10 Lillian Walker [Wolke] American silent era actress and film producer (An Embarrassment of Riches), dies at 88
- Oct 17 Vittorio Gui, Italian conductor and composer (Batture d'aspetto), dies at 90
- Oct 18 Al Lettieri, American actor (The Godfather; Pulp; Mr Majestyk; Getaway), dies of a heart attack at 47
- Oct 21 Charles Reidpath, American athlete (Olympic gold 400m, 4×400m relay 1912), dies at 86
- Oct 23 Barboura Morris, American actor (Wasp Woman, Machine-Gun Kelly), dies at 43
- Oct 23 Charles Brokaw, American actor (Outer Gate, I Cover the War), dies at 77
- Oct 24 Ismail Erez, Turkish ambassador, killed by car bomb in Paris
- Oct 24 Zdzisław Żygulski, Sr., Polish literary historian, dies at 87
- Oct 25 Frank Puglia, Italian actor (Black Orchid, Jungle Book), dies at 83
- Oct 26 Herman van San, Belgian classical and electro-acoustic composer, dies at 46
- Oct 27 H. V. Porter, American basketball coach and administrator (created fan-shaped backboard; moulded basketball, rules films), dies at 84
- Oct 27 Rex Stout, American detective writer (Nero Wolfe), dies at 88
- Oct 28 Georges Carpentier, French boxer (world light heavyweight champion 1920-22; 1st $1m gate v J Dempsey), dies of a heart attack at 81
- Oct 28 Oliver Nelson, American saxophonist, jazz and soundtrack composer, arranger, bandleader, and record producer (The Blues and the Abstract Truth; The Six Million Dollar Man), dies of a heart attack at 43
- Oct 29 John Scott Trotter, American orchestra leader (George Gobel Show), dies at 67
- Oct 30 Gustav Hertz, German physicist (Nobel Prize for Physics 1925 for "discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom"), dies at 88
- Oct 31 Joseph Calleia, Maltese-American stage, screen, and radio actor (The Book; Gilda; Touch of Evil), dies at 78
- Oct 31 SD Burman, Indian singer and film music composer (Zindagi Zindagi), dies at 69
